Soundy

This beast here: http://www.otima.com.tw/ptzdome/pdf/SDB_SAB_SHD_9237_SPECIFICATION_9seires.pdf Specifically, looking for the pinouts for the 1/8" TRS it uses for RS-485 input. All I can find online is the PDF listed above.

Yes - we removed all six existing cameras, installed three CNB domes instead (they only wanted very basic wide coverage of the pump islands), ran all new wiring INSIDE the canopy, and deleted ALL the old ugly wiring. The "installer" in this case isn't in "the biz", it was the station owner's brother.

Hmmm, a Panasonic WV-CW484 would handle that lighting nicely... although probably a bit out of your price range at ~$600 Something like this would work great, though, for about a third that price: http://www.cnbtec.com/en/html/product/product.php?inc=fea&seqx_prod=1126#p_v1

Welcome aboard!

Last elevator install we did, the A/V contractor had a Cat5e cable added to the traveler to run his three 7" displays (via component video baluns). We used the fourth pair for a camera feed. If there's power available on the elevator roof (which there should be), all you need is a single pair, twisted or not. A spare pair in the emergency-phone cable should suffice.

OKay, so the TRS jack is for the IR mouse input... so I still need to figure out which wires are the control inputs.

No IR, but here's a sample at 6km viewtopic.php?f=19&t=11322&start=82

If you'd been paying attention, Rory, you'd know that the Monalisas DO have ICR. It's been discussed several times. Ringtone, IR can be useful when there's REALLY low light... however, it's all to often used with cheap cameras to simply compensate for lack of good low-light performance. Cameras like the Monalisas that DO have good low-light response don't generally need it. Then as Warren points out, having the IR built-in can cause other problems - it attracts bugs, and the extra heat sometimes kills cameras. If it IS needed or desired, it's usually better to use separate external IR illuminators, rather than LEDs built into the camera itself.

C.O.P. above is a SMART customer. Nothing wrong with that. I suspect that's how a lot of pros in this industry got their start. The problem is the "SMART" customers, who think because they read a bunch of stuff on The Internets, they suddenly know everything there is to know on a subject, without actually having the faintest clue. Case in point was the guy I watched in the Computer City, badgering the poor minimum-wage salesdroid with his new-computer shopping list. He wanted the absolute latest, newest stuff so he wouldn't have to upgrade for a long time... including 14-pin USB and 16-pin Firewire ports. The salesdroid had no idea what the guy was talking about (neither did I). Mr. Self-Important stated that he had researched the latest computer technology on the The Internet so he knew what was what and nobody was going to talk over his head! He then produced the printout he had of an article instructing readers on what to look for in a new machine (I was in on the conversation by this point), and pointed out where it stated consumers should ensure their system had at least 1 4-pin USB and 1 6-pin Firewire port...

"OSD" stands for "on screen display", meaning the various options are configured via on-screen menus rather than using DIP switches or other methods. It has no relation to the output connections. Privacy masking blocks out part of the picture - that's configured through the OSD menus as well.

Depends what you mean by "works with". Click the link, it says right there on the homepage: "Load site plan / floor plan background images from AutoCAD, Visio or Google Earth"

And the "piece-de-resistance"... note that the power wiring to this camera is solid 18/3, run across the roof along with everything else... stapled through the shingles with fence staples.

Wonder why this PTZ doesn't work? Wait, is that a camera, or an aquarium??

Oh snap! That upside-down housing isn't a real Pelco EH3512... and it's not really all that weathertight!

Some more examples of the fine wiring job (unfortunately I don't have a shot of the lines draping down the slope of the canopy roof... classic!)

Well, got called in to this site yesterday to clean their outside cameras, clean up the wiring, and figure out why some of them weren't working. Well, at first glance, here's what's up with the wiring:

This lens will give you excellent quality at wide angle: Lists at a mere CDN$1040 Of course, you need one of these to mount it on:

Depends. If you're only needing one or two cameras, then probably. If you already have full network infrastructure in, then it saves you needing to run camera wiring. Of course, it depends on the card you're comparing it to... it certainly won't be cheaper than some $20 eBay junk card.

They're decent picture quality... night mode is quite good on the DN... but I wouldn't call them well-built. The three-axis yoke is all plastic, very flimsy, and a pain in the arse to adjust - they include three different mini Allan keys for the adjusting screws, and some of them are hidden away in hard-to-find, hard to reach areas. Plus, their setup software sucks arse - they only give you a complete install package that installs their own minimalist NVR application along with the setup utility, and doesn't give you the option to NOT install the NVR. Oh... and the setup util actually runs fine on Windows 2000, but the installer will kack out and say Windows 2000 isn't supported. All in all, decent cameras as far as output goes, but from an installer's perspective, very poorly designed in all aspects. "Auto lens"? Are you looking for autofocus, or auto-iris? These cameras don't support either. Once they're in and running, they're dandy. Getting them there is far more hassle than it should be.

What current capacity are they? Chances are, it's not enough for the cameras - once the motor fires up, the voltage drops, and the camera resets.

What power supplies are you using? 12VDC or 24VAC? If DC, are the regulated? What current rating?

I don't have any Linux machines running right now... try it yourself with the link above. No reason it shouldn't work though...

If you can sell him on a PC-based system, Video Insight will work with pretty much every browser out there, PC or mobile. www.demovi.com (I'm watching it right now on Chrome).

From what I could find on that card, you should be able to do 30fps on all cameras at up to 720x480 resolution - for analog cameras, that's about as good as it gets, with ANY hardware. Worst case, you might be limited to 15fps at full resolution, or something (I'm not personally familiar with those systems), but it certainly should be capable of far more than you're doing with it. If the Aver software has a web-client component, you could probably just use that directly as your live feed...

This is just a wild guess, but the looped wires could be in support of a dual-voltage setup. Example (and just using random pin numbers for simplicity): Say this manufacturer uses a standard breakout cable for all their cameras. They use pins 1 and 2 for 12VDC power input, and 3 and 4 for 24VAC. If the camera uses 12VDC only, then it would have connections to pins 1 and 2; if it's 24VAC only, it would have connections to pins 3 and 4. If it's a dual-voltage camera that supports either, it would then maybe have pins 1 and 3 tied together, as well as pins 2 and 4... that way it would work with either style of breakout cable. Just a thought as to one potential reason for this setup...